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The Presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) Oby Ezekwesili on Wednesday lambasted the Federal Government for creating the impression that handing bailout funds to state governors to pay salaries was an achievement.

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Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had recently highlighted that giving money to states to pay salaries was a major focus of the Federal Government.

But, Ezekwesili, while describing the remark as ‘shameful,’ said that a country that hopes to compete and win in the global economy has to think bigger than “handing bailouts to subnational governments to carry out the basic responsibility of paying salaries.”

Speaking in Lagos, the former Minister of Education said, “4 out of every 10 adults today are either unemployed or underemployed, and Nigeria is now the Poverty Capital of the world, with the World Bank confirming that we now have more extremely poor people than India which has a population six times our size.

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“And in the midst of this, the Vice President was celebrating last week at the Nigeria Economic Summit that handing bailouts to state governors to pay salaries is an achievement. What a big shame!”.

Ezekwesili stated that such bailouts amounted to “using a plaster to treat cancer”.

“It is short-term escapism that cannot work. With such lazy thinking, it is no wonder that we keep going around in aimless circles under the Buhari/Osinbajo government,” she said.